FGCU softball falls to No. 4 Florida in NCAA Tournament‘The Whale’ restaurant to break ground on new building
GAINESVILLE FGCU softball falls to No. 4 Florida in NCAA Tournament The FGCU softball team couldn’t keep up with the No. 4 Florida Gators as the Eagles drop their first Regional game 6-0 to the Gators.
FORT MYERS BEACH ‘The Whale’ restaurant to break ground on new building The Whale is a place that has shown great strength and determination.
COLLIER COUNTY Endangered Florida panther deaths surpass 2023 total in 5 months It’s taken wildlife officials just over four and a half months to report finding more dead endangered Florida panthers than in all of 2023.
FORT MYERS FMPD honors 7 officers and 2 K-9s who died in the line of duty dating back to 1930 Nine lives were given, and all nine will remain remembered. A lifetime of gratitude for the fallen officers.
Firefighter recovering from heat exhaustion after battling flames in Collier County It happened at Progress Rail, a transit corporation on Mercantile Avenue just before 5am on Friday.
FORT MYERS How do SWFL graduation rates compare to the state average? How do graduation rates for Charlotte, Lee and Collier Counties stack up against the state? WINK News crunched the numbers.
FORT MYERS Community divisive over ‘justified’ officer-involved shooting of Christopher Jordan A detective who killed an unarmed black man in a controversial shooting will be back at work on Monday.
CAPE CORAL Family submits civil complaint against Cape Coral Police Department The family of a 13-year-old boy who was struck and killed while riding his scooter has officially filed a civil complaint.
FORT MYERS Community reacts to ‘justified’ officer-involved shooting of Christopher Jordan Leaders with the NAACP are saying there is a divide between the black community and Fort Myers police.
NAPLES Inside look at $21 million Naples Players Theater, set to open at the end of May On Friday, as the theater’s 70th season approached, leaders and organizers invited WINK News for a ‘hard-hat-tour’ to showcase the new additions and construction updates.
FORT MYERS Detective who fired fatal shot at Christopher Jordan returns to work Monday Fort Myers police have confirmed to WINK News the detective who shot and killed a man inside his home will return to work Monday morning.
FORT MYERS Bishop Verot onto first state semifinals in nearly a decade A trip to the FHSAA State Semifinals has been a long time coming for the Bishop Verot Vikings who have not been since 2016.
Paul Fleming expanding Lake Park Diner, PJK restaurant concepts Lake Park Diner co-owners Smith Organics and Paul Fleming Restaurant Group anticipate 50 locations of what will be a Naples-based chain.
New construction, business growth continues near Punta Gorda Airport Development surrounding the Punta Gorda Airport continues to grow with 2.5 million square feet already developed and 1.5 million square feet planned, according to Charlotte County Economic Development Director Dave Gammon.
AREA SHELTERS AND REFUGES OF LAST RESORT CHARLOTTE COUNTY Emergency Operations Center (941) 833-4000 charlottecountyfl.gov/departments/public-safety/emergency-management/ PLEASE NOTE: Do not depend on a particular shelter or refuge. Sites may, or may not, be opened depending on the size of the storm and the predicted landfall area. *All Charlotte County shelters are pet-friendly. PORT CHARLOTTE Harold Avenue Regional Park Recreation Center, 23400 Harold Ave. […]
GAINESVILLE FGCU softball falls to No. 4 Florida in NCAA Tournament The FGCU softball team couldn’t keep up with the No. 4 Florida Gators as the Eagles drop their first Regional game 6-0 to the Gators.
FORT MYERS BEACH ‘The Whale’ restaurant to break ground on new building The Whale is a place that has shown great strength and determination.
COLLIER COUNTY Endangered Florida panther deaths surpass 2023 total in 5 months It’s taken wildlife officials just over four and a half months to report finding more dead endangered Florida panthers than in all of 2023.
FORT MYERS FMPD honors 7 officers and 2 K-9s who died in the line of duty dating back to 1930 Nine lives were given, and all nine will remain remembered. A lifetime of gratitude for the fallen officers.
Firefighter recovering from heat exhaustion after battling flames in Collier County It happened at Progress Rail, a transit corporation on Mercantile Avenue just before 5am on Friday.
FORT MYERS How do SWFL graduation rates compare to the state average? How do graduation rates for Charlotte, Lee and Collier Counties stack up against the state? WINK News crunched the numbers.
FORT MYERS Community divisive over ‘justified’ officer-involved shooting of Christopher Jordan A detective who killed an unarmed black man in a controversial shooting will be back at work on Monday.
CAPE CORAL Family submits civil complaint against Cape Coral Police Department The family of a 13-year-old boy who was struck and killed while riding his scooter has officially filed a civil complaint.
FORT MYERS Community reacts to ‘justified’ officer-involved shooting of Christopher Jordan Leaders with the NAACP are saying there is a divide between the black community and Fort Myers police.
NAPLES Inside look at $21 million Naples Players Theater, set to open at the end of May On Friday, as the theater’s 70th season approached, leaders and organizers invited WINK News for a ‘hard-hat-tour’ to showcase the new additions and construction updates.
FORT MYERS Detective who fired fatal shot at Christopher Jordan returns to work Monday Fort Myers police have confirmed to WINK News the detective who shot and killed a man inside his home will return to work Monday morning.
FORT MYERS Bishop Verot onto first state semifinals in nearly a decade A trip to the FHSAA State Semifinals has been a long time coming for the Bishop Verot Vikings who have not been since 2016.
Paul Fleming expanding Lake Park Diner, PJK restaurant concepts Lake Park Diner co-owners Smith Organics and Paul Fleming Restaurant Group anticipate 50 locations of what will be a Naples-based chain.
New construction, business growth continues near Punta Gorda Airport Development surrounding the Punta Gorda Airport continues to grow with 2.5 million square feet already developed and 1.5 million square feet planned, according to Charlotte County Economic Development Director Dave Gammon.
AREA SHELTERS AND REFUGES OF LAST RESORT CHARLOTTE COUNTY Emergency Operations Center (941) 833-4000 charlottecountyfl.gov/departments/public-safety/emergency-management/ PLEASE NOTE: Do not depend on a particular shelter or refuge. Sites may, or may not, be opened depending on the size of the storm and the predicted landfall area. *All Charlotte County shelters are pet-friendly. PORT CHARLOTTE Harold Avenue Regional Park Recreation Center, 23400 Harold Ave. […]
WASHINGTON (AP) – Capping their history-making week, the first female soldiers to complete the Army’s rigorous Ranger School are graduating Friday, putting a spotlight on the debate over opening all combat roles to women. First Lt. Shaye Haver of Copperas Cove, Texas, and Capt. Kristen Griest of Orange, Connecticut, are pinning on the black-and-gold Ranger tab at a graduation ceremony, along with 94 male soldiers, at Fort Benning, Georgia. Defense Secretary Ash Carter called the women Thursday to congratulate them for finishing the nine-week training program. Their success casts new attention on the obstacles that remain to women who aspire to join all-male combat units, including the 75th Ranger Regiment. Although Haver and Griest are now Ranger-qualified, no women are eligible for the elite regiment, although officials say it is among special operations units likely to eventually be opened to women. Griest, 26, is a military police officer and has served one tour in Afghanistan. Haver, 25, is a pilot of Apache helicopters. Both are graduates of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Of 19 women who began the Ranger course, Haver and Griest are the only two to finish so far; one is repeating a prior phase of training in hopes of graduating soon. The Army opened Ranger School to female soldiers for the first time this year as service leaders weighed opening more combat jobs to women. How far the military is willing to go toward ending gender restrictions will be evident soon. Carter said Thursday he will decide by December whether to accept any recommended exceptions to an order, signed by one of his predecessors, Leon Panetta, nearly three years ago that said all positions must be open to qualified women unless service leaders can justify keeping any closed. Any recommended exceptions are due to Carter in October. Griest told reporters Thursday she hopes her success shows that women “can deal with the same stresses and training that men can.” Some current and former military members feel strongly that the Pentagon is going too far to accommodate women. James Lechner, a retired Army lieutenant colonel and former Ranger, said he questions whether the Ranger course adequately tested the female candidates under combat-simulated conditions and whether it makes sense to open all combat units to women. “American women certainly serve with honor and distinction, provide some capabilities that males may not be able to provide,” Lechner said in a telephone interview. “But when you talk about your fighting units, your combat arms units, especially the infantry, … you don’t need to just have the minimum standards. You need to have as good as you possibly can get.” Janine Davidson, a defense policy analyst at the Council on Foreign Relations and a former Air Force cargo plane pilot, said the success of Griest and Haver and the prospect of the Army fully integrating women into its ground combat force is “policy catching up with reality,” given the extensive combat experience women had in Iraq and Afghanistan. It also reflects generational change, she said, which she has heard in conversations with high school students. “They actually are shocked when they learn that women aren’t already doing this kind of stuff – the idea that they themselves would not be allowed to do it,” Davidson told reporters Tuesday. Rangers call themselves “masters of special light infantry operations” such as seizing key terrain and infiltrating hostile territory by land, sea or air. They are an arm of Army Special Operations Command and U.S. Special Operations Command. The Ranger School, which began during the Korean War as the “Ranger Training Command,” fails most who enter. For the period between 2010 and 2014, 58 percent of candidates washed out – most of those within the first four days, a phase that includes tests of physical stamina, a land navigation course, and a 12-mile foot march, according to the Ranger training website. Ranger history pre-dates to the Revolutionary War and includes prominent roles in the War of 1812 and the Civil War. In the June 6, 1944 D-Day landings on the beaches of Normandy, Rangers famously scaled the sheer cliffs of Pointe Du Hoc overlooking Omaha Beach.